Brake hanger



Sept. 2s, 1939. F, SCHAEFER 2,174,369

BRAKE HANGER Filed Oct. 22, `1937 w//vfssfs NVENTOR. BY 4 j UL *44 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 26, 1939` UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to brake hangers for railway cars, and more particularly to the substantially U-shape type of hanger.

The upper ends of the two arms of the conven tional U-shaped brake hanger are provided with eyes through which extends a pin the central portion of which is supported in a brake hanger bracket. The distance between the hanger arms at their eyes can not be less than the minimum established by the Association of American Railroads, and the length of the supporting pins has also been standardized although they can be made longer if desired. As it is more feasible to use standard length pins, the thickness of the hanger arms where the eyes are formed has heretofore been restricted to that which permits the use of the standard pins having a head at one end and a Cotter-key passage in the other end. With hangers of this construction it is found that the upper portion of the walls of the eyes that bears against the supporting pin wears away long before the rest of the hanger is worn out, thereby resulting in undesirable hanger replacement ex pense.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a substantially U-shaped hanger the upper pin-receiving ends of which are so formed that the life of the hanger is prolonged materially.

In accordance with this invention a substan- 30 tially U-shaped brake hanger is provided in its upper ends with eyes for receiving a supporting pin. Each of the upper ends is also provided integrally with a boss extending outwardly from its eye along the upper portion of the projecting end 35 of the supporting pin. The lower surfaces of the bosses form a continuation of the adjoining up per walls of the eyes to provide bearings of materially increased area for the upper surface of the pin. A standard length pin can be used with 40 such a hanger by providing the pin with only a partial head so that it can be disposed below the overlying boss in the conventional position. Likewise, the passage for a cotterke-y in the opposite end of the pin falls below the overlying 45 boss at that end. Consequently, the two bosses do not interfere with the use of a standard length The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which 50 Fig. 1 is a side View of my hanger with a supporting pin extending through its upper ends; Fig. 2 is a view of the left end of the pin and hanger; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the right end of the hanger.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a substantially U-shaped brake hanger is formed trom a i metal rod bent to provide two spaced upright arms I integrally connected at their lower ends by a yoke 2 adapted to support a brake head (not shown). The upper ends of the two arms are provided with axially aligned eyes 3 in which is disposed a supporting pin 4 that projects therefrom. The portion of this pin between the arms is adapted to be mounted in a brake hanger bracket connected to a railway car truck in the usual manner.

It is a feature of this invention that although a standard length supporting pin can be and preferably is used, the area of the hanger that bears against the upper surface of the pin is materially increased to thereby greatly prolong the life of the hanger. Accordingly, the upper end of each side arm l is thickened to provide it with an integral boss 6 that extends outwardly from the adjacent eye 3 along only the upper portion of the underlying projecting end of the pin. The distance that the bosses can extend downwardly around the pin is limited by the key-receiving passage 1 near one end of the pin. That is, as shown in Fig. 2, the bosses should not extend down so far as to obstruct this passage so that a cotterkey 8 can not be inserted in it, because that would require an extra length pin having its key-receiving passage at a greater distance from the hanger.

To prevent the head of the pin from interfering with the proper insertion of the pin in the hanger eyes, the pin is provided with only a seg ment or partial head 9 (Fig. 3) so that it can slide under the overlying boss and engage the side of the hanger arm. It is a relatively simple matter to form such a head on a standard pin by merely cutting a portion of the conventional head away. Of course, railroads may also be supplied with pins that are produced initially with only partial heads.

The lower surfaces of the bosses form a continuation of the adjoining upper walls of the eyes with which they conform in arcuate shape, whereby bearing surfaces of materially increased area are provided for the upper portions of the pin. Bosses 6 need beno wider than the head of the pin, because otherwise they would project beyond that end of the pin and serve no purpose.

A brake hanger constructed in accordance with this invention can be used with standard length pins the heads of which have been slightly modified, and the advantage of the hanger is that the upper bearing surfaces of th-e eyes that have heretofore worn away relatively rapidly are materially increased in area so as to prolong their life and thereby also prolong the life of the entire hanger.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and inode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In combination, a substantially U-shape brake hanger having pin-receiving eyes in its upper ends, and a supporting pin disposed in said eyes and projecting outwardly therefrom, each of said upper ends being provided integrally with a boss extending outwardly from its eye along only the upper portion of the underlying projecting end of the pin to form an extended bearing therefor, the bearing surface of said boss being concave and lying in the projected arcuate plane of the upper bearing surface of the adjoining eye, the ends of the pin below said adjoining bosses being provided one with a partial head and the other with a key-receiving passage.

2. In combination, a substantially U-shape brake hanger having pin-receiving eyes in its upper ends, and a supporting pin disposed in said eyes and projecting outwardly therefrom, each of said upper ends being provided integrally with a boss extending outwardly from the upper portion of the wall of its eye along only the upper portion of the underlying projecting end of the pin, the lower surface of said boss conforming in arcuate shape to the adjoining portion of said wall to thereby form an extended bearing for the pin, said projecting ends of the pin being provided below the overlying bosses one with a partial head and the other with a key-receiving passage.

3. In combination, a substantially U-shape brake hanger having pin-receiving eyes in its upper ends, and a supporting pin disposed in said eyes and projecting outwardly therefrom, each of said upper ends being thickened to provide a relatively wide continuous bearing surface for the upper portion of the underlying projecting end of the pin, said underlying projecting ends of the pin being provided one with a partial head and the other with a key-receiving passage.

FREDERIC SCHAEFER. 

